Wise X-Border Transactions Jump 26% Before US Listing

U.K. FinTech Wise is reporting a surge in cross-border transactions ahead of its Nasdaq listing.

In a trading update Monday (April 13), the company says those transactions jumped 26% during its fourth quarter to 49.4 billion pounds ($66.2 billion) and 11.3 million active customers.

“We are making good progress on building the network for the world’s money. Our infrastructure makes cross-border transactions cheaper and faster and, in January, we became one of the first payment institutions to be granted membership to Payments Canada, paving the way to direct access there,” Wise Co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann said in the update.

“More and more people are using Wise at home or abroad for their everyday spending, for paying bills, for savings and investments. That’s why last month we formally launched our UK current account with a physical branch concept on Oxford Street in London.”

The company introduced the current account late last month, framing it as a challenge to Great Britain’s retail banking industry.

“Banks haven’t kept pace with what customers expect for their current account. People shouldn’t need separate accounts for home and abroad,” Nilan Peiris, Wise’s chief product officer, said in a news release at the time.

“With the Wise Current Account, we’re giving customers a smarter way to manage their daily financial needs.”

In its Monday update, Wise also reported “continued diversification of income” through its Wise account, with customer holdings growing 37% to 29.4 billion pounds ($39 billion), and card and other revenue up 29% year over year.

In addition, the number of Wise Business active customers climbed by 26% during the quarter to 572,000, with volumes up 35%.

The company says it is also on track to complete its dual listing, with the Nasdaq becoming its primary listing, on May 11.

“We believe that the addition of a primary US listing would bring a number of strategic and capital markets benefits to Wise and its owners, including greater visibility in the United States, the biggest market opportunity for our products today, and better access to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital market,” the update added.

Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS Intelligence has found that 14% of American consumers had made a cross-border payment in the prior 12 months — and close to two-thirds of those consumers used digital wallets to do so.

“In this environment, competitive advantage is shifting,” PYMNTS wrote recently. “It is no longer defined by ownership of a specific payment rail, but by the ability to orchestrate transactions across multiple systems by routing value seamlessly while managing liquidity, compliance and user experience.”